Compensation tie-plate.



'No. 650,720. Patented May 29, I900.

H., HERDEN. COMPENSATION TIE PLATE.

(Applicv fiion filed Dec. 19, 1898.)

(No Model.)

HENRY r in-Roan, oi wnttsnonouen, PENNSYLVANIA.

coM PENSATION T lEf-PLATE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,720, dated May 29, 1900. Application filed December 19, 1899. Serial No. 740,859. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HENRY HERDEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wellsborough, in the county of Tioga and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Compensation Tie-Plate, of which the following is a full, clear, and ex act description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved compensation tie plate designed to prevent tilting or spreading of the rails and arranged to compensate for the settling of the tie-plate in the fibers of the tie, owing to the action of the car-Wheels on the rails.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improvement as applied and with the rail shown in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. at is a plan view of the tie-plate, and Fig. 5 is an edge view of the same.

The purpose of tie-plates generally is to prolong the life of the ties and to retard the disintegration of the Wood due to the motion of the rails. The tie-plates also reduce this motion, as spikes are firmly held by the plate, which usually has lugs or teeth on the under side to make the plate to a certain extent part of the tie itself, all of which tends to reduce the danger of spreading of the rails. The various forms of plates as now used give more or less good results if the ties are made of hard wood and are new and sound. Conditions, however, soon change in soft wooden ties or in any kind of wooden ties if they become soft or weak from decay or defective from service. It is a well-known fact that the outer edge of the rail-base begins first to penetrate or eat into the tie, especially on curves and here at both rails along the outer edges. This is caused by the swaying motion of trains in a lateral direction. The pressure of the wheels exerted against the rails on curves is due .to the fact that it is next to impossible to so elevate the outer rail on curvesas to conform to the various speeds, in consequence of which one rail or the other is pushed outward by the moving train. It is therefore evident that the tie at the outer edge of the rail-base receives more blows and has to sustain greater loads than at the inner edge of the rail-base, The result of all this is that the rail,with or without the tie-plate, (as commonly used of rectangular form,) penetrates the tie first along the outer. edge and continues there much more rapidly in this action than at the inner side, where the progress of depression is very slow and often does not take effeet at all until the tie is well along in decay. This action causes the so-called tilting. and spreading of rails, which is in railroad practice a very disagreeable feature and often has very serious consequences. The improvement presently to be described in detail is intended to remedy this defect in the action of the rail upon a tie by compensating for the uneven settling into the tie.

The compensation tie-plate A is preferably made of metalsteel or iron of a suitable thickness and having sides a and b conver ging toward the inner side of the rail, thus giving a gradually-diminishing surface contact between the plate A and the tie B toward the innerside of the rail 0. The difference in length along the outer and inner edges 0 and d of the tie-plate between the sides a and b may vary according to the resistance or width of a tie or the width of the rails used for which the plate A is designed, and the trapezoidal shape of the plate may in extreme cases approach the form of a triangle; but it is distinctly understood that a compensation tie-plate or a metal tie-plate is meant, which has less surface contact between the rail and tie at the inside of the rail-base than at the outside, and that this and also that it is made of uneven width and narrower or wider next to the lines or surfaces, as stated, constitutes the main feature of my improvement.

The plate A having less area at the inner side of the rail 0 than at the outside, has a tendency to penetrate the tie B at the inner side first if both sides are subjected to an equal load; but as this is not the case and the outer side sustains more frequently greater loads than the inner side the outer surface is made larger to offer more resistance to penetration of wood than the opposite end of the plate, where less resistance is required.

The compensation tie-plate is provided with three depending lugs c (2 c of which the lug e is located at the outer edge cof the plate A, and the other two lugs e c are located along the convergimg sides a and b and near the inside of the rail-base, as is plainly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. The lugs e e e are struck up from the plate A in triangular form and bent at right angles to the plate, but at such an angle to the tie B that the lugs penetrate the fibers of the tie in a diagonal direction that is, neither parallel with nor squarely across the fibers of the tie.

The narrow end of the plate A is provided with one spike-holef, and the opposite outer or wider end is provided with two spike-holes f,'so as to permit of either one or two spikes D at the outer end, according to choice or practice. The triangular form of the lugs e e 6 permits of readily penetrating the wood with the least injury to the fibers of the tie, and their angle with relation to the fibers of the tie is designed so as to be more firmly held by the fibers of the tie,as each individual lug now resists motion lengthwise and crosswise of the tie, which is not so much the case with lugs now used and cut parallel or crosswise of the fibers.

The compensation tie-plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is placed under the rail G and fastened by one, two, or more spikes D to the tie B, according to choice or practice. The number of compensation-plates A to a rail is dependent on the condition of the tie or track and the character of traffic, all subject to practice in a given case.

Thenumber of lugs e c e is designed to give the plate immediate and uniform contact with the tie and true stability when placed on the tie, so as to avoid enlargement of the lugholes in the tie, whether the plate is driven home by hand or subsequently by the load on the rail.

The advantages claimed for the improved compensation tie-plate are that the plates will penetrate the tics uniformly and retain, therefore, more perfectly their parallelism to the surface of the ties, prevent or reduce the tilting of the rails, reduce the motion of the plate outwardly in a sloping direction, which motion would cause the fibers of the tie to broom up and hasten their decay. The

plate prolongs the life of the rail and wheel, as there is now a perfect contact maintained between the rail and the wheel, and the plate reduces the abrading action against spikes and prevents the lifting of the inner spike, and it also prevents or reduces the spreading and tilting of rails, and therefore reduces danger to life and property. The swaying motion of the rolling-stock is reduced, as the gage of the track is maintained more perfectly. The plates are principally designed for use on curves in tracks and are also readily applied on straight lines and on any kind of rail-joint. Shimming between rail and tie can bedone more conveniently when the improved compensation-plate is used. The plate is economical in construction, as all surplus material is avoided, and consequently the plate can be cheaply manufactured. The plate can be conveniently applied to old or partly-decayed ties to prolong their life, as well as to new ties.

The compensation tie-plate will cause less injury to the fibers of the tie, because the compression of the wood in the tie at the rail, and especially along a curve, now takes place gradually, uniformly, and at right angles to the surface of the ties. The sum total of the advantages, thcrefore,are prolongation of the life of the ties, rails, and wheels, reduction of expense and maintenance, of Weight, and operation of railroads on curves and safety to life and property.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A compensating tie-plate, comprising a flat, solid and trapezoidal-shaped plate having a plain upper surface, and provided with apertures and with triangular-shaped lugs struck up from the plate, the width of the lugs being diagonal to the length and width of the plate, substantially as described.

2. A compensating tie-plate, consisting of a thin trapezoidal-shaped plate having a plain fiat upper surface, and provided with apertures, and with three depending triangularshaped lugs struck up from the plate, one lug being at the edge of the wider end and the other two at the converging sides ofthe plate and at one side of the center of length of the said plate, the width of the lugs being diagonal to the length and width of the plate, substantially as herein shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY IIERDEN. lVitnesses:

M. J. McMAHoN, J. B. NILES.

ITO 

